On Thursday, the State Board of Education voted 10-1 to pass a resolution opposing corporal punishment in North Carolina’s public schools.
Randolph County, Thomasville City Schools and Caswell County are those that still use the disciplinary practice in the Triad.
Though the state law for corporal punishment states authorities “may use reasonable force in the exercise of lawful authority to restrain or correct pupils”, most counties declare the punishment must be administered on the buttocks with a hand or paddle.
You can view the full resolution here.
Randolph County Superintendent Donald Andrews said in the last 10 years there has not been a documented case of corporal punishment. Before then, the cases were not documented.
Andrews said he recommended the school board ban corporal punishment in schools two years ago, but the board voted to keep the corporal punishment policy 6-1.
“Our board felt strongly that it should be there in the event of, and because from time to time we do have parents that will ask that the child be spanked, ” Andrews said.
“You may use it, and you have the authority to use it by our policy, but in my own personal preference I would try to use every other means possible.”
All parents have the choice to opt out of corporal punishment by signing a form at the beginning of each school year.
Superintendent Andrews said now that the state has released the resolution of opposition, he plans to bring up the idea to ban corporal punishment to the school board again.
Statewide the number of documented corporal punishment cases has dropped by 55 percent from 891 cases to 404 cases during the 2011-2012 school year.